Looking Closer

The paper which makes up the Koran’s book block is glossy. The paper has previously been described as “bombycine” – a term used to describe paper made from a mixture of cotton and silk fibres.

Medieval paper was predominately made from cotton fibres; waste cotton was soaked and pulped before being made into sheets using a wire frame.

Conservator Elaine using a light sheet to look closer at the paper structure

A light sheet highlights the ‘laid lines’ in the paper – these indicate that the paper was made using a frame.

After drying the sheets were sized (treated with a vegetable starch or gum) to make them non-absorbent, this process allows the ink to sit on the surface of the paper.

After sizing the paper was vigorously rubbed with a hard and smooth object to produce a polished surface. This process is known as burnishing, and a paper is said to be highly burnished if the surface is very smooth and highly polished. The burnishing implement varied; a pestle-like tool with a rounded head was sometimes used, as were polished stones.